The present invention relates to a safety device for the protection of vehicle tire workers to prevent injury in the event that a tire breaks or disintegrates during the inflation operation by providing a safety cage for locking the tire during the inflation operation.
One of the more precarious and risky operations in the servicing of automotive and truck equipment is the changing and inflation of tires. When a given tire casing has been damaged or has lived its useful life or for any other reason must be removed from the wheel, it is a simple operation to extract the valve stem and permit the air to exhaust from the inner tube whereupon it is a relatively simple operation to remove the casing and tube from the wheel, and it is almost as simple to place a new casing and tube on the same wheel. When, however, air under pressure is forced into the tube to prepare the tire for the road, a considerable danger arises. If there are defects in the casing, which is especially apt to occur when a used casing is replaced on a wheel, or if the baseband is defective, or if the casing is not properly seated on the wheel, when sufficient pressure is reached, the tire may burst or be blown off of the rim. This occurs only after from 20 to 30 pounds of pressure have been built up in the tire, and the result is that the mechanic who is placing the tire is in serious danger of severe injury or even death.
The most dangerous items are the removable ring and the lock ring. These items under the impulse of 20 to 40 pounds air pressure are entirely capable of decapitating an operator. The safety cage of the present invention is especially designed to catch these rings if they are dislodged by air pressure, and prevent injury to the operator. Similarly, a long tear in the fabric of the carcass, or separation of the cords in the carcass, may result in the dislodgment of a considerable sized fragment of tire which under pressures of 20 to 40 pounds per square inch may have sufficient impetus to break arms or ribs, disabling the operator for a considerable time. The homework of the present guard structure are designed to intercept major fragments or tire casing large enough to injure an operator.
The safety cage of the present invention consists of a base or floor frame having a center post protruding therefrom so that a pneumatic tire mounted on a wheel rim can be placed over the center post and enclosed in a cage to prevent the escape of rings during the inflation of the tire. Advantageously, the device allows for the rapid placing and locking of the wheel in the safety cage for the inflation and for the rapid removal upon the completion of the inflation operation.